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Christmas
Carol Shines With Holiday Cheer
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Kerri
Kanelos
December
5th 2003 |
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 A
Christmas Carol, Trinity Repertory Company's
time honored holiday performance, draws in
audience members every year who look forward
to inspired and creative renditions of Charles
Dickens's classic story. One not familiar
to this Rhode Island institution may wonder
how many times the same story can be told
before it loses its luster. Fortunately, with
the help of an excellent cast and a few incredible
technological tricks, Trinity yet again puts
forward a performance worthy of an annual
family tradition.
This year's
version, directed by Trinity Conservatory
graduate Peter Sampieri, immediately engulfed
the audience in a world amongst the holidays
and the lives of Dickens's peasants. Ramshackle
tenement houses surrounded Chace Theatre;
children in ragged clothing scurried among
their makeshift playground; roving street
musicians played upbeat holiday music. This
reverie infused into the audience and they
were all soon clapping along with the band
and wiping away tears when Scrooge eventually
makes amends with those he has slighted.
I had the pleasure
of watching the Ivy cast's performance, which
included outstanding performances by Trinity
veterans Dan Welch, Fred Sullivan Jr., William
Damkoehler and Janice Duclos. Welch played
an extraordinary Scrooge, originally full
of harsh words and a soul full of loneliness.
At first, I was skeptical of a younger Scrooge
since most traditional performances of A
Christmas Carol star a haggard older man.
However, Welch used his expertise and turned
his character into the perfect mix of good
and evil, despair and redemption. Besides
playing the role of Scrooge's shoddy business
cohort Jacob Marley, Fred Sullivan Jr. also
appeared several times throughout the performance
as a flirtatious, overly friendly townsperson.
Damkoehler shines as the Ghost of Christmas
Present. Initially drunk as a skunk, he is
thrown out of the local pub and into the streets.
After a jolly musical number, he is transformed
into a colorful, royal costume of scarlet
robes, sausages, candy canes and the signature
holly wreath. The audience also seemed pleased
with Janice Duclos's cheeky performances as
Scrooge's servant, Mrs. Partlet and his first
employer, Mrs. Fezziwig.
All jolliness
and joking aside, this year's performance
also struck home on an emotional level as
well. The Cratchit family, headed by the loveable
Bob (Andy Grotelueschen), continually anchored
the story with warmth and heartbreak. Deviating
from the musical score normally performed,
the cast brought many to tears with their
gorgeous version of "Amazing Grace"
to accompany Scrooge's trip back to salvation.
This is what the holiday season is all about-putting
aside one's individual greed for the good
of all humanity.
Technologically,
Trinity's latest version of A Christmas
Carol far surpasses any local production
to date. A trap door on the stage opened into
a fiery pit that engulfs Jacob Marley in all
his evil glory. Marley seemed to disappear
into thin air as the black cloth walls devoured
his body. Later in the show, the same chamber
regurgitated Marley's ghost and his chain-ridden
fellow demons. Scrooge's pitiful looking bed,
supported by a cage like apparatus, hung from
the ceiling of the theatre and provided the
perfect setting for some of the more creepy
scenes.
Overall, the
cast reinvented itself continually as the
actors portrayed their different roles beautifully
during each scene. The size of the cast was
quite small for a production of this magnitude,
but most actors switched roles and personalities
very well. Although Stephen Thorne mastered
the role of Scrooge's caring, diplomatic nephew
Fred, the same dialect, mannerisms, and characteristics
reappeared when Thorne performed his other
roles.
Even though
the high-stress holiday season is usually
full of the hustle and bustle of last minute
shopping, all the presents in the world cannot
account for time spent with one's friends
and family. I cannot think of a better way
to bring together the ones you love than creating
a Christmas Carol tradition all your own.
For ticket information,
please call Trinity Rep's box office at (401)
351-4242
This article was previously
published on www.lovethyjob.com. |
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